System of engine control



M; D. CHURCH. SYSTEM or ENGINE CONTROL. APPLICATION FRED. IAIL'IH. I920Patented 0%. 5,1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MAYNARD D. CHURCH, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE TERRY STEAMTURBINE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

Application filed March 31, 1920.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MAYNARD D. CHURCH, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, county ofHartford, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Systems of Engine Control, of whichthe following is aspecification.

In my co-pending application S. No. 336,724 filed November 8th, 1919, Ihave described an arrangement where the power of a steam engine, such asa steam turbine, may be used for driving purposes and the exhaust steamfor heating or other useful purpose, and a system of control wherebyvariations in the relation between the amount of exhaust steam and thedemand for exhaust steam automatically adjust'the speed setting of thegovernor or other speed manifest the extent of the demand for exhauststeam and affect adjustment of the speed setting of the governor.

In the accompanying drawing,

The figure is a layout'more or less diagrammatic of an installation inwhich the present invention is incorporated.

Referring to the drawing, a is the primary driver such as an electricmotor b is the driven member such as an exciter, and 0 is a steam enginesuch as a turbine, all of which may be connected to the shaft of agenerator so that when the motor drives the exciter it will also drivethe rotor of the turbine. and d is a tank having a water heater 7:. towhich the exhaust line 10 of the steamturbine leads.

The steam engine 0 may be of any suitable kind, that shown in thedrawings being a turbine of the well known Terry type. It-

has a steam supply to the usual valve chamber 11 in which is located theinlet valve Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1920.

Serial No. 370,089.

12, the stem of which is connected as shown to one end of the lever 13pivoted as at 14. On the main shaft 15 of the turbine is a speedregulator such as a centrifugal governor which may be of any desiredconstruction. The governor shown in the drawings is of a well known typehaving a plunger 16 rotatable with but longitudinally movable of themain shaft 15 a pair of weighted L-shaped arms 17 pivoted on a disk 18fixed to the shaft 15 and engaging at their inner ends against the endof the plunger 16; and a spring 19 normally urging the plunger againstthe inner ends of the weighted arms 17. The outer end of the plunger 16is connected, as shown, to a lever 13. It will be understood that whenthe speed of the turbine shaft 15 increases, the outer ends of the arms17 will swing away from each other, thereby causing the inner ends ofthese arms to move the plunger 16 outwardly against the compression ofthe spring 19, the result being that the lever 13 is rocked in adirection to move the valve 12 toward its seat and reduce the amount ofsteam supply to the turbine. When the speed of the shaft 15decreases,-the-reverse action takes place.

By the present invention, the governor of the turbine is supplemented bymechanism responsive to variations in temperature affected, eitherdirectly or indirectly, by variations in the relation between the amountof exhaust steam from the turbine and the demand for such steam. In thepresent instance, I have shown the exhaust steam line 10 of the turbine0 leading to the tank (Z containing a substance the temperature of whichis to be maintained within certain limits. Whether the steam isdischarged into the tank or passed through a closed heating element incontact with the fluid in the tank is immaterial. Variations in thetemperature of this substance are rendered effective in controlling thespeed setting 'of the governor through the instrumentality of atemperature responsive device of any suitable type but herein shown asbeing in the form of a bulb 21 containing a volatile liquid, suchasether, this bulb being located within the tank and connected by means ofa small tube 22 to a chamber 23 of a pressure responsive device. Thechamber of the pressure responsive device is formed in part by acollapsible diaphragm 24 loaded phragm and an adjustable nut 26 carried?by the frame of the regulator. Movement of thediaphragm 2 iscommunicated to the '26 tovary the load upon the lever 13'by means of atension spring 27 connected at its inner end by a rod 28 to the head ofthe diaphragm and at its outer end by a 'rod 29 to the lever 13. Theouter end of the rod 29 is threaded to receive a nut 30 to "permit ofmanual adjustment of the tension of spring 27. The control may also bemanually adjusted by regulating the nut diaphragm 24;.

The pressure regulator is first set by adjusting the nuts 30 and 26 sothat the speed of the turbine will be maintained within predeterminedlimits. The compression force of the spring 25 is at all times greaterthan the tension of the spring 27. During normal operation the primarydriver will take part of the load and the adjustment of the governor andthe strength of thespring 27 willbe such that the turbine will drive thedriven machine at a slightly reduced speed should the motor fail.

In operation, as the temperature within the tank or heaterd rises, thevolatile liquid in the bulb 21 develops an increasing vapor pressurewhich is transmitted through the tube 22 to the chamber 23, resulting inexpansion of the diaphragm 2d against the resistance of the spring 25thereby decreasing the tension of the spring 27 and as this decreasedtension in the spring 27 is subtracted from the force of the spring 19of the main governor, the speed of the governor will be lowered, and thegovernor will. partly close the inlet valye, reducing the quantity ofsteam passed through the turbine so that the temperature within the tankwill fall. As the temperature within the tank falls, the pressure withinthe bulb 21 and the chamber 23 decreases, resulting in increased tensionof the spring 27 which means that the plunger 16 of the governor isurged with greater force against the inner ends of the weighted arms 17and thus the speed setting of the governor is raised and a greateramount of steam will pass through the turbine.

it 'is of course,-obvious that my invention is susceptible of variousmodifications and changes which are within the spirit of my inventionwithout departing from the scope of the following claims, it beingunderstood that the present disclosure of the invention "is by way ofillustration only and it is not to be taken as restrictive of myconception.

What I claim, is

1. A steam engine, agovernor therefor, and means actuated by variationsin temperature aiiected by the relation of the supply and demand forexhaust steam to ad: ust the speed setting of the governor.

2. A steam engine, a governor theref r, and means actuated byvariationsin temperature of a substance heated by exhaust steam from the engine toadjust the speed settin of the governor.

n combination with a driven member, a steam engine driving that member,and a governor therefor, of means actuated by variations in temperatureaffected by the relation of the supply and demand for exhaust steam toadjust the speed setting of the governor. v

" 4'. In combination with a driven member, a steam engine driving thatmember, and a turbine therefor, of a temperature respons ive deviceaffected by variations in tempera ture of a substance heated by theexhaust.

steam to adjust the speed setting of the governor.

5. In combination with a driven member, a steam engine and a seconddriver, all connected to rotate together when either the second driveror steam engine is driving, said steam engine having a governor, ofmeans actuated by variations in temperature affected by the relation ofthe supply andv demand for exhaust steam to adjust the speed setting ofsaid governor.

6. In combination with a driven member, a steam engine driving thatmember and a seconddriver, all connected to rotate together when eitherthe second driver or steam engine is driving, said steam engine having agovernor, of temperature responsive means actuated by variations intemperature of a substance heated by the exhaust steam to adjust thespeed setting of said governor.

MAYNARD D. CHURCH.

